Til it All Falls Down
by knightlychika
Summary: Meet Adelphe McNeal, a young and stubborn veteran exorcist who's recently been transferred to Exorcist Headquarters. Trouble always seems to be hot on her heels and that trend doesn't seem to diminish when she meets Devan Suryanarayana, a young man whose life is turned upside down by the Holy War. This fic follows their struggle to acclimate to their new lives
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man or the canon characters used in this fic. I do, however, own Adelphe McNeal. Quote comes from BrainyQuote**

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"**Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind"  
John F. Kennedy**

_The girl grunted as she set down the crate, wiping the dirt on her hands onto her pants after doing so. A cloud of dust floated around the fabric and her feet._

_The boy on the other end of the crate wiped his hand across his face, smearing the dirt across his sweaty brow rather than clear it off, as his younger sister assumed he tried to do._

_He smiled at her and sighed before taking a deep breath, getting ready to speak. The girl hoped he was going to suggest a break, since they'd been working for hours and she was getting sore. An unusual sound towards the warehouse drew their attention before he could say anything. A strange round silhouette appeared from the smoke and screams filled the docks-_

Adelphe McNeal thwacked her head against something behind her, waking her from the memory. She looked around, not remembering having fallen asleep.

A wagon . . . horse manure . . . green countryside . . . ahhh yes, she was headed to the Black Or-ow!

The wagon hit another pothole on the road, resulting in another collision between the girl's head and the side of the wagon. The way this trip was going, she would get to the Order with a mark of the back of her head to match the one over her right eye. Dammit, was the driver blind or just asleep?

Adelphe turned to answer her inquiry, black-gloved hand over the sore spot on the back of her head. She was met with gray hair, a straight posture, and a deliberate grip on the horses' reins. Blind it was.

With an annoyed sigh she looked to her suitcase, silently wondering how far until she got off this road and made it to the Exorcist Headquarters. After a moment of deliberation she opened it up and pulled out a small black object. In the morning sunlight its details were easier to see; the circular body, the bat-like wings, the white circle on its front.

"Baladith."

The golem came to life at the girl's voice and took to the air a foot in front her face on said bat wings. The white front lit up, acknowledging its master.

Adelphe's gaze quickly shifted to the driver but found he hadn't reacted. Seemed fortunately he was both blind _and_ deaf. The last thing she needed was for him to get distracted listening to her and just crash the cart outright.

She looked back to her golem. "See if you can find another golem in the area and request rendezvous coordinates. I have no idea where-"

"_Exorciiiiist."_

Adelphe's blue eyes widened as a shiver went down her spine. She knew that lifeless tone, the downright sickening condition that accompanied it. An akuma.

The girl looked around, trying to find the source or the chill-inducing voice before it could fire off a shot first. She turned, peering over the edge of the wagon before finding her query. It transformed into an all-too familiar round, levitating, cannon-clad monster, meriting a groan from the blue-eyed Scot.

"Joy." She quickly snapped out of her sarcastic mindset, though, as her heart started racing. She quickly grabbed her suitcase before diving off the back of her ride.

She dove behind the other side of the wagon, the only alternative to a measly bush. At least wood could take cannon-fire better than foliage.

The akuma shot at the ground directly behind the transport, about the spot it last saw the girl. How did these things ever manage to successfully hunt humans if they couldn't anticipate?

In any case, it seemed the steeds had a better sense of their surroundings than their master, as they took off to the sound of the dark matter striking the ground behind them. Leaving Adelphe completely exposed.

If she'd had the time, the girl would have grumbled another sarcastic comment on her less-than-ideal situation. As it was, she wouldn't be able to make it to cover before the monster got off another few shots.

_So be it, _she thought.

Adelphe unscrewed the cap to the canteen strapped to her belt, dropping her suitcase as she did so.

"Tonn an Dochais, activate!" The Scot extended her left arm away from her side in half a T-formation as silver blades enveloped her arms, replacing the black gloves from a moment before. Water rushed out of the open canteen and flowed around her arms in mid-air.

_"Innoceeeeencccce," _a creepy voice hissed, probably recognizing the glowing green hue of the water. Or the black and white uniform bearing the Rose Cross. Or maybe it was the fact that water didn't naturally levitate.

"You want it?" Adelphe crossed her left arm across her body and twisted her torso to the right in preparation to attack. The water hovering around the limb started building up speed, building up power as it awaited command. "Here you go!"

She twisted her body to the left, channeling all the power from her hips up into her left arm in a violent slicing motion. The water left her arm, shooting towards the akuma mid-air in the form of a water-blade.

A moment later she sheer speed and power of it allowed the water to slice through the mask of the monster easily. The two halves of the akuma fell away from each other before exploding in the air.

Battle over easier than most, Adelphe sighed. _I have to walk because of _one_ akuma? Well that's frustrating._

Movement to her left caught the exorcist's eye and she barely dove out of the way before a barrage of bullets started heading her way.

_I should've known, _she scolded herself. _Level Ones don't talk in akuma form, I should have known there was another! Come on Adelphe, you haven't been out of the game _that_ long._

She took cover behind the largest tree she could dash to, hoping to buy herself enough time to call back the water she already had active. She could certainly just draw more from her canteens, but the more she activated, the more her accuracy would suffer.

She felt the comforting tingle as the Innocence-bonded water touched her skin. She balled her hands into fists and turned her head to the right, ready to get back in the fight.

Suddenly the tree exploded, wood chunks and sharp splinters flying around Adelphe like grapeshot. She was peppered with small chunks, but one hefty piece collided with the back of her neck. The force and surprise propelled her forward with a surprised grunt.

As she hit the ground she noted that her face and leg were feeling oddly warm, but she had other concerns at the moment. Adelphe rolled onto her back to assess the akuma's posi-crap, it was right in front of her with clear line of sight.

The exorcist clambered to her feet as fast as she could, but that whack to her head-well, the whack from the tree-wasn't doing her any favors. Honestly if it weren't for the fuzzy edges of the akuma and the fact the whole world was spinning, she wouldn't have known if she was fighting one enemy or two.

She was having trouble standing upright and seeing straight, but her arms still worked. She made another slicing motion with her left arm, though it wasn't as strong as the first. The water approached the akuma, but its accommodator's blurry vision wasn't working in its favor. The water-blade sliced the akuma, but was embarrassingly shy of the mask. Rather, it sliced through the body a fair portion to the left of where she was aiming. The wound was smoking and deep, but close wasn't good enough.

Adelphe sliced to the right with her left forearm before making a fist, ordering the water to circle behind the akuma and hit it from the side. As an Equip type, she had to order her Innocence to obey commands. For most exorcists it meant verbal commands, but that option wasn't practical for the Scot when her water-blades would go a fair distance. Instead, she'd trained her Innocence based on physical motions, relying on verbal only when using new techniques.

The Innocence did as it was told, disappearing from Adelphe's view for but a moment as it loomed behind the akuma. With surprising speed it came around the right side and shot straight for the akuma's weak spot. This time it sliced the face with much more ease, to Adelphe's relief. The akuma didn't seem too pleased, but it was a moot point as it blew up just as spectacularly as its buddy a couple seconds later.

Despite her now thundering headache and near-nauseating vision Adelphe didn't relax just yet. She looked around and kept quiet, making sure there weren't any other unwelcome guests in the area. After several seconds her head demanded she sit down, so she called the water back to her. With some difficulty she coaxed the Innocence back into its canteen and screwed on the lid before deactivating the blades on her arms.

She started walking towards her suitcase, though her stride reflected her fatigue. She'd have to work to get back into shape, as three months without any confrontation was taking its toll on her fitness and stamina.

Her foot kicked something as she continued, forcing her to stop and look down. Her gaze was met with Baladith, which was lying on the ground motionless. She picked it up and found it had a hefty splinter sticking out of it. She held onto the golem tightly with one hand and pulled on the splinter with the other, expecting serious resistance. It came out relatively easy. Surprised, Adelphe held the golem in her open palm.

"Bal, you okay?"

It immediately lit up and took to the air. That dent looked nasty and it sparked, but seemed otherwise fine.

Adelphe smiled and nodded. "Good to hear. Let's get going, eh?" Bal lit up at though to comply, but didn't move on without the Scot.

Before she moved, however, a wet sensation on her right leg drew her attention. The exorcist looked down and moaned as she saw she too had taken a hit from the tree. A large chunk of said tree was making itself cozy on the front inside of her right thigh. And now that she was starting to come off the adrenaline high she could feel it. Oohhh yeah she could feel it. Her face hurt too, come to think of it.

She brought her right hand to her face, gingerly feeling her right cheek for-oh yep, there it was. Another good-sized piece of wood. The girl grimaced as she gripped the exposed end with her fingertips and lightly pulled. When it offered resistance she grumbled before trying again, this time yanking it free with a harder tug.

She carefully felt the edges and knew it was bad. It would be hard to beat the scar she'd acquired when she was eleven, but she was always one for a challenge.

She turned her thoughts back to her leg. Stupidly and without thinking, she gripped the stake sticking out and pulled. Sure, the piece in her face took two tries, but this stupid thing came out in one go. As soon as it was free the bleeding got a lot worse, turning a small trickle into a pretty decent stream coursing down her leg into her boot. Some of the crimson fluid soaked through her dark pants and trickled down the outside of her boot.

Adelphe groaned as she tilted her head back, face pointed to the sky as if to ask God why He so loved picking on her. After a moment she sighed, looking to Baladith before limping towards her briefcase.

By the time she reached it she was seriously dragging her feet and was beginning to wonder how much longer she could make it before she had to take a break, or just blacked out altogether.

"B . . Bal." She had to close her eyes as she bent down to grab her luggage. Her vision was spinning enough without her bending towards the earth. _It's getting worse, I might not make it to town . . ._ "S-see if there are any finders in the area."

Baladith flashed in compliance, but suddenly dropped. Adelphe reached her hand out, barely catching it in time. At first she thought that maybe that piece of wood finally took its toll, but the front was still flashing. _What's this all about? Is he still trying to contact someone?_

She walked for a little while, Bal in hand. She was starting to think that maybe Bal was done and was just fighting to stay functional, but eventually she heard something.

"Kkkk-of the Bla-kkkkkkkkk-o is this?"

Adelphe sighed in relief. It wasn't a good signal, but it was something. "Thank God. This is Adelphe McNeal, I'm an exorcist." She gasped as she stumbled, almost going down. Once she steadied herself she took a deep breath and continued limping on, though her right leg was getting harder to use. "I need help."

"Kkkk-s your posit-kkkkk"

"I'm eehhhh," the scarred girl sighed, begging everything to just stop hurting long enough for her to make it closer to the town ahead. Neither her head nor her leg complied. "I think I'm h . . half a day's cart ride from Liverpool. I d-don't know . . . I'm approaching a town in a v . . valley."

She turned, slowly walking backwards as she studied the surroundings behind her. She had no idea where she was, maybe the finder would know if she could give a detail description.

"Y-yeah, I'm traveling west, I can't see th-" She was cut off as she tripped and a grunt dominated her voice.

Her clumsy and tired ankles tripped over each other and she couldn't recover in time, sending her falling backwards. As she landed on her back, a large rock was inconveniently placed in just the position to steal her breath with the impact, and she again hit her head against a hard surface.

"Kkk-ou there? Kkkkkkk"

Losing blood, and now having hit her head for the fourth time in about ten minutes, Adelphe didn't have the strength to speak, let alone stand. Even as she tenaciously fought it, the dark encroached on the exorcist, first taking her heavy eyes before rendering her body limp and unconscious on the side of the trail.

* * *

"_Adelphe, get back!" The little girl turned wide-eyed to her mentor at the sound of her name. The elder exorcist activated her innocence and took off after a monster that looked disturbingly like the dolls Adelphe's siblings liked._

_The young Scot was now alone on the ground, nervously staring after her teacher. She hadn't been this scared since the day she acquired her Innocence._

_An explosion came from her right, sending pieces of what used to be a building flying everywhere. An all-too familiar bulbous figure appeared from the smoke. More out of instinct than training she raised her arms to block her face as purple light shot towards her-_

Adelphe's eyes shot open.

Immediately her headache assaulted her, making the white around her feel like a light being shone directly into her eyes-which made the headache worse. She groaned and covered her eyes with one hand, wishing she could get back to sleep.

"Ah, you're awake." The girl opened her eyes and turned her head toward the voice. She found a young woman at the bed next to her looking her way, a warm smile on her face. "How are you feeling?"

Adelphe groaned, bringing a hand to the back of her sore head. "Like I've been run over by a horse. And had a tree explode with me next to it." Through her thick hair, she didn't notice until she had finished speaking that she had a bandage on her head. A bandage, really? She only bumped it a few times, no big deal.

"Aahhh it was a tree," the woman, who Adelphe assumed was a nurse by her plain clothes and interest in the exorcist, muttered under her breath as her gaze wandered away from the girl.

Adelphe furrowed her brow. "Excuse me?"

The nurse directed her focus back to the Scot. "Oh I'm sorry. When we were cleaning your wounds we found wood splinters but we didn't know how they got there."

"Oh yeah," Adelphe shrugged. "I pulled the wood out 'at the scene,' so to speak."

"That was a stupid thing to do." Adelphe turned her head as a new voice entered the conversation. This time it was an older woman, one who had a sense of authority about her. "Had those finders not brought you here when they did, you would have found yourself in an unmarked grave."

Adelphe averted her gaze. She didn't like being lectured, but right now her head hurt too much for her to want to fight about it. Thankfully it seemed the woman thought she got the message, as she quickly went back to work with someone at another bed, though Adelphe's head hurt too much for her to make out a face on the patient.

Several minutes later someone entered, drawing the exorcist's attention. _Two_ someones, actually.

"Ma'am?" The first person who entered was another young woman. She seemed to be addressing the elder lady, who turned to the newcomers. "Excuse me ma'am, but the Chief had asked to speak to her once she woke up." _'Her' has a name, you know._

The elder woman indicated to Adelphe and the second visitor approached her while the young woman joined the nurses at one of the beds. As the person got closer she could make out that it was a tall man, and his white coat would have blended in with the sea of white if not for the silver Rose Cross on his chest. _White coat but wearing an emblem . . . the chief?_

Adelphe pushed herself up so she was sitting up once he reached her.

He took a strong, straight stance once he reached her bedside. "Adelphe McNeal?" _Yup, definitely chief._

She nodded, a confused expression on her face. "How do-?"

"I found your file after I requested your transfer." He held out a hand in greeting. "I'm glad you finally made it. We were expecting you two months ago; I feared the worst."

Adelphe hesitantly took the man's hand, not used to such . . . friendly behavior from her boss. "There were a few . . . problems, but it was taken care of." She furrowed her eyebrows. "You have a file on me?"

The man smiled as he released her hand. "You may have been stationed in America but as Exorcist Headquarters, we keep tabs on all active exorcists."

Adelphe nodded, and opened her mouth to say something else when the man raised a hand, cutting her off.

"As for your next question, I am Komui Lee, Chief of the European Branch. Hence my authority in your transfer."

"Aahhh," Adelphe tilted her head back slightly, burning curiosity now sated.

"I know this probably isn't how you wanted to make this introduction," Chief Lee paused as Adelphe nodded and rolled her eyes in agreement. This really _wasn't_ how she wanted to meet her new chief. In fact, it was probably the complete _opposite _of how she wanted the encounter to go.

He continued with a small smile, "But allow me to welcome you to Exorcist Headquarters."

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**Author note: Okay, before I start my blabbering I want to say thank you sooooo much to anyone reading this, whether you're new to my works or have followed me here for a while or one of the lovely dA people who have been patiently waiting as I've been saying for about a year that I need to write this**

**I probably won't stick to **_**just**_** quotes at the beginning or **_**just**_** theme songs; I'm not sure my library is extensive enough to come up with a theme for every single chapter without breaking into my Two Steps From Hell stores (I love them, but it would be too easy to use them for every chap and I wanna change things up). Sooo if I find a quote that I like, I'll use it. If I find a song that's perfect for a chapter, I'll use that. I dunno, what are your thoughts on it? Quotes? Music? Both in some chapters?**

**A few notes:**

**-Her full situation is soon to be explained, but as of now she hasn't received a red and black uniform, hence why it says black and white at one point. Believe me, I wanted to change it every time I proof-read this because I kinda don't like the first uniforms but it had to stay**

**-Grapeshot is kinda like shotguns for cannons. We all know of cannons that shoot the huge balls Pirates of the Caribbean style? Well actually back in the day they often used grapeshot, which was actually scary effective (thank you Mythbusters for teaching me things I can only ever use in fanfics and Knowledge Bowl)**

**-On the finder. We don't know a lot about golems, aside from their being personalized voice-activated communication companions. We've seen that they can connect to a finder's phone-pack-thingy to contact HQ, as they can do with regular phones, but golem-to-golem doesn't require the phone connection. Seeing as how both golems and the finders' mobile phones are Order technology, I'm kinda hoping that the two can connect to each other without trouble (if you have evidence to the contrary please let me know, but I've put a bit of research into this and haven't found anything). Also the fact that golems are voice activated would tip off the guy at the other end that he's talking with someone important enough to the Order to have their own golem**

**Please tell me what you think~ of my character, of the style, of anything. Just be warned that this is the first thing I've written on my own in 3 years (aside from a couple one-shots on dA) so please no flames or nastiness**

**Reviews would be greatly appreciated :3**


	2. Chapter 2

****Windcharger: Aaahhhh yes I think I've seen your reviews on her re-write of New Divide :D ohohooooo heck yeah I'm ready! I mean, I'm still a little iffy, but I'm actually a little ashamed of how excited I am for it xD thanks for stopping by and leaving a review, it's very much appreciated****

**Thank you sooo so much to everyone who favorited, watched, and reviewed this fic~ it means more than my derpy self can put in words ;;w;;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own DGM, the canon characters, or the concepts presented. I do, however, own Adelphe McNeal, Kahani, and Devan Suryanarayana. Quote is courtesy of BrainyQuote**

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**"Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself"  
****Andrew Carnegie**

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"M-Miss McNeal, you can't leave yet. Your injuries—"

"The hell I can't. I've been in worse condition and still continued my duties." Adelphe was sifting through her luggage, though she was really just making sure her spare corset and flute were undamaged. Not that she cared about her clothes, but if the ribbing on her corset broke she'd have to endure shopping long enough to find another. It just went better if it was undamaged.

Satisfied that things seemed in order at her glance, she quickly closed the case and picked up the handle. The girl grabbed the canteens next to the luggage and pinned those between her free arm and her side, preferring to get out of here _before_ taking the time to put the things on.

She turned, despite the two nurses' protests, and ran full-on into the man who'd greeted her earlier.

"Opffff, sorry."

The nurses seemed appreciative of the chief's presence. "Chief Komui, can you _please_ tell her she needs to stay?"

He put a hand on Adelphe's shoulder, and she immediately braced for a lecture or for him to tell her to stay or some other thing that _really_ wouldn't help right now.

"Actually, I came to get her."

While the nurses exploded into fits of argument, Adelphe cocked her head with a confused expression. _Well . . . __**that**__ was easy._

"P-please, Chief Lee! If the Head Nurse hears she left she'll be very upset. Please, it's only for a few more hours."

"Oh, don't worry. She'll be coming right back."

"The hell I—"

"_And_ she will remain here until she is ready for missions."

Though the nurses seemed satisfied with the compromise, if reluctantly so, Adelphe was anything but.

The Scot pointed up to the man, "If you expect me to stay put for God knows how long, you'd better have restraints, because what time isn't spent completing exorcist duties is going to be put towards training."

He didn't seem so much annoyed with such an attitude as familiar, if his surprisingly calm demeanor was any indication. Rather than roll his eyes or offer an exasperated expression, as she was so used to, he merely motioned towards the door. The girl all but ran out before the nurses could say anything.

Once they were out of the infirmary, Adelphe got to work strapping her canteen to her left leg. She tried to do so without stopping, but between the movement of the leg, the limping of the other, and her overall soreness, she had to slow down to get it on.

When she had the straps taken care of she straightened, looking to her superior. His eyes were on the canteen, or probably moreso on the bruise lying under it.

She took it as just part of being an exorcist, but anyone who saw the bruise caused by the constant contact either felt sorry for her – which they made sure to voice – or told her she needed to find an alternative. Neither ever accomplished anything except annoy the Scot.

The chief, however, had a mostly neutral expression with a tinge of something else, sadness maybe. Well, as the chief of all the branch chiefs he probably saw worse than a little bruise.

After a moment they resumed their course down the hall, only their footsteps filling the silence. Adelphe wouldn't have it any other way, really; that infirmary was all hustle-bustle and people talking and people visiting, the whole thing got on the nerves of the girl who generally preferred solitude anyway. Mm though . . .

"Uuum where are we going?"

The man nodded, indicating their goal was further on. "To get you measured for a new uniform. The one you arrived in is both damaged and, shall we say, outdated. We have a new des—"

"Chief Komui!" Said chief and the exorcist both jumped as a woman's voice thundered through the corridor, only where Adelphe quickly recovered her previous stance, the man seemed to shrivel as though to hope the owner of the voice would lose him. The tactic proved in vain.

"The paperwork on your desk is not going to go away on its own." A woman with short, curly hair approached, her serious yet seemingly bored face suggesting she was the one chewing her superior out.

Next to her was a girl with short dark hair, sporting a black sleeveless top and black shorts. Adelphe wanted to gag when it dawned on her that she was in the same get-up herself.

The other girl smiled as she tucked a lock of dark hair behind her pierced ear. "Komui's never been good about completing papers."

"He's going to _get_ good about it as long as I'm here." The elder lady turned slightly to the side as though making room for Komui to walk with her and motioned with her index finger for him to follow.

The girl seemed to notice the chief's gaze shift between the woman and Adelphe, as she offered him a sweet smile. "I'll show her around, Brother. Go take care of your work."

He sighed dejectedly, looking at Adelphe one last time before walking towards the strict woman, shoulders lightly sagging. He turned and looked to the dark-haired girl once he passed her. "I'll be back shortly; I need to take her to see Hevlaska." His attention turned to the Scot in question, "Unless you know your current sync rate."

She raised a confused eyebrow, "My what?"

Chief Lee looked again to the girl who addressed him as 'brother.' "Contact me once you're done with Johnny." With that, he turned and walked with the curly-haired woman into the distance.

Once they were several paces away, the dark-haired girl turned her smile on Adelphe. "I'm sorry about that. My brother has a habit of letting his work pile up before he does something about it."

Adelphe nodded and rolled her eyes, a smile pulling at one corner of her lips, "I know how that is, my siblings were the same way."

As soon as the words left her lips and she saw the other girl's expression dim, she regretted having said anything. _Wow, way to go, Adelphe. And good luck digging yourself out of this with any sort of grace._

Quickly enough, as though accustomed to hearing sad stories often, the other girl recovered her bright expression, "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." She bowed slightly, "I'm Lenalee."

Adelphe blinked a few times, surprised at the gesture at first. _That's right, Asian tradition._ She rearranged her grip on her things so both her suitcase and loose canteen were on her left side, then extended her right hand toward the girl. "Adelphe McNeal."

Lenalee graciously took it, still maintaining that smile. Adelphe couldn't help but wonder if it was a façade or if she was genuinely happy, but she wasn't one to pry. She, after all, was private when it came to showing emotion so asking about it in others would feel too hypocritical; not to mention one might mistake mere curiosity for attachment or something of the like.

After a moment Adelphe released the greeting gesture and gripped her luggage again. "Now, he said I needed to be measured for a new uniform?"

Lenalee nodded and started walking the way Adelphe and Chief Lee had been, and Adelphe quickly fell in step beside her.

After a moment of silence Adelphe sighed, "Brother, huh? Is that why everyone calls him Chief Komui rather than Lee, so you don't get confused?"

Lenalee seemed to think about it for a second. "Maybe . . . I never thought of it that way. As far as I can remember everyone's just used their first names." She paused for a moment before her smile, which had tamed as they walked and spoke, returned, "Well, almost everyone. It makes us feel more like family in a way."

Adelphe's posture and expression seemed to get heavier as her thoughts wandered elsewhere. _Family, riiiiight. This is a lovely reunion and I can go see my family at any time. That might work well with people who didn't know their family, but I was happy before being dragged into this damned war._

"Here we are."

Adelphe tuned back into her environment and found herself in a new area, surrounded by books and men in white labcoats. The labcoats came as no surprise, Adelphe was certainly used to seeing the scientists at the North American branch sporting them. No, what seemed a bigger shock was how despite the pristine coats, the very professionally-organized research books against the wall, and the clean tables, the place felt oddly homey. Maybe it was the girl's fatigue, maybe it was her relief at seeing something other than a bloody cruise ship for the first time in months, or maybe it was the odd menagerie of people; the man with long hair and unique cap-bandana thing, the short man with curly hair and ridiculous glasses, then the people who were openly sleeping on those "pristine" tables that Adelphe knew she would never bring food near _ever_.

Whatever it was, she could genuinely say she wouldn't mind if the rest of her experience at headquarters was as much of a departure from her expectations as this.

* * *

_Devan._

_Devan?_

_Deevaaaaaan._

The purring of the girl's voice woke him from his deep slumber, at least enough that he was fully aware of the sunlight assaulting his eyes. With a lazy groan he rolled over, turning his face away from the light before covering his eyes with his right forearm, with every intention of going back to sleep.

Long hair not his own tickled his chin and upper arm. At first it did so simply with his movements, but a few seconds later it turned more deliberate as the owner of said hair pinched the locks an inch or so from the ends and brushed them across his dark skin. Hard as he tried, he couldn't hold back the smile that crossed his lips.

Seeing that her efforts weren't working, her fingers abandoned the hair and went for a more direct approach. Before he felt it coming her fingertips rested on the side of his hipbone and traced up his side. The motion sent a shiver up his back, and was enough to have him roll onto his back and finally relent to the daylight.

He opened his eyes, but quickly closed the right one closest to the window again. With his left eye, he saw how Kahani seemed to catch what sun she needed with her dark skin and black hair, and reflected what remained back to the world like the gem she was. It was moments like this that he had to stop and remind himself that she had dedicated her life to _him_, that she chose _him_ and a life of unknowns over her fancy clothes and high-caste comforts.

"Devaaaan, you're staring again."

Devan didn't even see her smirk, as he felt his face start to get warm and quickly averted his gaze. Unfortunately for the young man who always strove for chivalry, his eyes first landed on one of her nearby undergarments, then when he looked away he found himself staring at her again.

This time when he looked away, he managed to do so vaguely more gracefully. Even so, his face grew even warmer at her quiet but genuine laugh.

"I-it's not fair to tease me this early in the day."

"It's not early, Devan. The sun has been up for three hours." She sat next to him on the bed and placed her hand over his, "That is why I got you up, we need to get going or we won't find a coach traveling west."

He managed to work an "okay" through a deep yawn. Once it had passed he closed his eyes and crossed his fingers, resting his hands palms-down on his chest.

Kahani giggled, "You're adorable when you're tired."

He sighed, still keeping his eyes closed, "Does adorable get me food?"

The sound of light metal clanking met his ears, and he barely opened one eye. Kahani seemed to be messing with something on a surface out of his current line of sight, but a few seconds later fronted up to him again with something in her hands.

"It gets you waking up to fresh tea before a day of travel."

He opened both eyes as the aroma met his nose. He couldn't name the scent, but the prospect of facing a day on rocky roads and cranky people _without_ food or tea was far scarier than braving a new flavor.

He sat up with a small smile and slid to the edge of the bed before greeting the cup of tea with both hands, "Then I think I can handle being adorable for now."

* * *

Alright, so "measuring" for her uniform took a lot longer than expected, though Adelphe could walk away saying it wasn't that bad. Yes, even with her tenacity she could admit she'd been in the wrong.

When she'd joined the Order, it seemed that the outfits were fairly uniform, so she'd learned to cope with some features that at times proved inconvenient. From the conversation she'd had with the scientist handling uniforms, it sounded like some said features could be changed, but really at this point she just wanted one that was in one piece, unlike the one she'd arrived in.

Now that their business was done there, Adelphe was fine being shown around the area by Lenalee. At first they'd planned on contacting Komui as he'd said earlier, but his sister said he'd take the opportunity to abandon the papers for more interesting things, namely Adelphe. With that in mind, the girl opted to show the new-comer around, so she wouldn't need an escort for her whole stay.

Adelphe's mind was on her growing hunger and boredom as they went from area-to-area, but once they arrived at one specific location her train of thought changed completely.

Even before Lenalee said anything, the blue-eyed girl knew what it was. The damage to the floor, walls, and pillars was unmistakable; this had to be where the others trained on their down-time.

Adelphe pointed to the area. "Training grounds?"

The dark-haired girl looked to the indicated grounds with eye brows slightly raised. She nodded with a small smile, "Mm-hmm. It's not fancy, but it gives us plenty of space to spread out and have multiple people spar at a time. If you'd like you can try it out once we stop by the cafeteria; Jerry always gets eager to meet new members."

At first Adelphe wanted to point out that she, in fact, was not a "new" member, then thought that she might just avoid it and ask if they could spar anyway. Fortunately, her stomach spoke up before her mouth could, settling the decision for good.

With something of an annoyed countenance, Adelphe followed as the still-smiling Lenalee led them away from the training area.

A few steps later her stomach rumbled again, this time making her think of what she usually craved when her stomach was this noisy.

"'Jerry' wouldn't know how to prepare curry, would he?"

* * *

**Author's note:**

**I am sooo so so sorry that it took me this long to update. First I couldn't come up with a good way to start chapter two, then I did like two or three weeks later, got most of it written out, then brought it up with my dA friends because I just wasn't sure about it, and decided to start again from scratch (then there was the whole Denver Comic Con thing but that's beside the point xD). Honestly I'm much happier with this version anywho**

**And heeeeere's Devan ;;w;; ideally I would've saved this for later, but I needed a break for Adelphe's fun at the Order (getting measured ain't award-winning material. Believe me, I've done it many-a time). Plus, here you can kinda see why I've shipped Devan x Kahani for a year or so longer than the ship you are all aware of (I'm trying to be vague here for new-comers to the story :'D)**

**If writing in his POV here sounds too cheesy, I'm sorry. I'm tired and have never written for a guy's point of view before (or at least never in this regard, and certainly never posted it). Plus, the dude just woke up, I think you're allowed to be sappy when you can't even see straight xD**

**Anyone catch the irony in Adelphe's last line here?**

**Also, fun fact: because the British had set up shop in their place of birth, I figured it would make sense for a native to have an English name. Even so Devan's name is something of a cop-out, reason being that when I first made Devan and Kahani two or three years ago (I honestly can't remember how long it's been hnnn), I planned on Devan dying, so I didn't want to put the weeks of research into his first name just to kill him (like I did with his last name /sob)**

**Thank you guys so much for your feedback on chapter one, be it that you mentioned having read it or leaving a review, and I'm sorry again that this is so late**

**If I have any typos or mistakes or anything, please don't hesitate to let me know about them (in a kind manner, of course). I've been tired and recuperating from DCC and a wee bit worried about my new job, so I'm a little distracted xD /this isn't begging for more reviews, I swear!**

**Catch you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm soooo so so sorry for the delay on this, guys. Life got in the way :I**

**By the way, a big shout-out to ChikitaWolf. This is actually the third iteration of this chapter and while I'm not sure she realized it, she actually helped a great deal through just normal convos about DGM :'D also, her and Papyrus-tree's blog dgmfanreviews . tumblr . com is a massive help, at least for keeping a lot of things in mind, so if you're ever stuck on something there might be something on that blog that can help. Even if you don't need help on stuffs I recommend it, there are some interesting topics/discussions there~**

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man, the canon characters, many of the concepts presented, or the locations utilized. I do, however, own Adelphe McNeal, and Kahani and Devan Suryanarayana. The quote is courtesy of BrainyQuote**

* * *

"**In every conceivable manner, family is link to our past, bridge to our future" –Alex Haley**

As it turned out, Jerry did know his way around curry—or at least it smelled like he did. Three months at sea had certainly dulled Adelphe's memory to its smell and taste, but now that she held a bowl of it once again it was all rushing back. What's more, the excitement the man showed at her request told her that he put great effort into it, which was more than could be said of the cooks in America who hardly knew what chicken was, let alone obscure Indian dishes.

Of course, it was hard for Adelphe to keep her focus on the delicious smell. Much as she wanted to block them out, all the people cluttering to get a glimpse at her or dropping their voices to a whisper drew more attention to themselves than deter it. Of course she was used to it, but it was usually from people outside the Order; having Finders and Scientists and maybe even Exorcists whispering about her was unnerving, to say the least. And annoying, very annoying.

She and Lenalee reached a deserted table against the wall, the furthest the Scot could find from the other diners in the cafeteria. Adelphe sat down with her back to the rest of the room and released a sigh.

"You'll get used to it."

The Scot turned her focus to Lenalee, who was offering her yet another smile. "Huh?"

"After a while thing will quiet down, but right now everyone's just curious."

"Mm." The blonde started idly stirring her curry with one hand, the other tucked under her jaw. "I'm used to the whispering and staring, just not . . . you know, _here_. Home. The Order is usually the one place I can get away from it." She looked to Lenalee. "Is it always like this when someone new comes?"

"Of sorts. It's always exciting when we get a new member to our family, but usually when we meet someone they're new to the Order. I think the fact that you were transferred from another branch is even more exciting in some ways."

_Family, right. I haven't had one of those in a long time and I sure as hell won't be finding one at the Order._

Adelphe continued stirring her food, but showed no interest in actually eating at the moment. "And I imagine the fact I was brought in unconscious doesn't hurt?"

Lenalee's expression turned to one of sympathy. "Probably not. All we heard was that there was an Exorcist in distress, and next thing we knew you were brought here in a bloody mess."

Adelphe rolled her eyes. "It shouldn't have been such a big deal. Three months without training or any sort of activity just bit me in the arse is all."

The Chinese girl's ever-present smile returned, though it still held a tone of sympathy. "We can fix that here in a little while." She nodded to the bowl in front of her colleague, "But considering the past few days you've had, it would probably be a good idea to get something into you first."

As Adelphe looked down at it, the smell that she'd been craving returned to her senses. She thought about just pushing it aside and going straight to training, but if her fear of an enraged chef didn't deter such thoughts, her growling stomach did.

"Probably."

* * *

Kahani clung to Devan's arm as they walked through the streets. She knew Devan was looking for the way to the coach office, evident through his muttering to himself, but she was content to study her surroundings.

It was fascinating to see how even some of the more artistic buildings here were so different from those in India. She'd been raised with ornate designs on the buildings and incredible detail on everything from the ceiling to the floor they walked on, so seeing such simple, flat structures lining the streets was intriguing. Her family would make rude quips of them being commoner buildings not fit for walking amongst, but those intricate and complicated things that dominated her childhood were rather stifling; the simplicity in which these people lived, on the other hand, was liberating.

The people themselves were fascinating as well. The Egyptians themselves were kind and helpful, even if Kahani's liberal use of her sari earned a few glares, but she was also surprised by the amount of Europeans she found here. It was one thing to read about them or hear that they travelled all over the world, but this was probably the first time she ran into so many in one place – aside from the English who had a strong presence in India.

"There we are." Devan's voice pulled the girl from her musings and she glanced up at him with wide eyes. "I think . . ."

Kahani followed his gaze and found that across the way, a nondescript building with a coach in front of the door with a sign above the entrance written in Egyptian Arabic.

"Well it _does_ have a carriage in front of it, and the sign has 'coach' in the name." She glanced up at him again before coming to a realization. She smiled, "Why Devan, in the four years I've known you, you never told me you don't know Arabic."

Devan looked away, scratching his head with his free hand. "I never thought I would leave Dehra Dun, so I just didn't get to it."

"I'll have to teach you someday, _mere suravira_," she smiled as the two started heading for the office.

"_Did you hear about the ruins outside of Cairo?"_ Two Egyptian men were standing just off to the side of Kahani, speaking in the local dialect of Arabic. Curiosity drew her attention away from Devan and the station as the men spoke in grim tones.

"_Don't tell me the English are moving in."_

"_They are, but they say there's something strange happening. Their men keep disappearing. And when I was there a few days ago I saw a group of armed men headed in their direction."_

The second man scoffed, _"Do they not read the warnings? They weren't mere words to deter thieves; many men have died 'investigating' the tombs. I guess that's what grave robbers get, past or present."_

"Kahani?"

She turned back to Devan, "Yeah?"

"Something going on?"

The girl shook her head and shrugged, "No. Just thinking . . ."

Devan leaned down and examined her face. When he didn't seem to find what he was looking for – deception, if that squint was any indication – he straightened again.

"If you're certain." He still eyed her with a mildly suspicious eye but seemed to drop the issue as he turned his gaze back to their destination.

Kahani's mind, on the other hand, lingered on what the men had said; and she couldn't help but think that something terrible was happening, or _going_ to happen, in Cairo.

* * *

Komui noticed something of a crowd forming around the sparring area as the session continued. The area wasn't flooded with people by any means, but the only times he'd seen nearly this many interested in sparring was when Bookman and Kanda trained together. The chief didn't question it, though; this was an interesting match.

It had been an exciting couple days, actually. When the girl was first brought to the Order, unconscious and in an old and beaten up uniform, everyone was cautious. Many were undoubtedly so from the invasion of the previous headquarters, while for others the newcomer was simply an unknown in their home.

If the scene before Komui was any indication though, said caution gave way to a curiosity, maybe even excitement.

Redirecting his focus to the match, Komui noticed that Lenalee and their newcomer seemed to be focusing on basic hand-to-hand, resorting to activating their Innocence only when one was knocked back; at which point they seemed to mock-battle for a few moments before the distance was closed and they returned to hand-to-hand.

Despite her wounds Adelphe had fairly decent speed, dodging Lenalee's maneuvers with quick dives and landing hits on her Dark Boots with "water blades" before she got too far. The three months at sea and away from combat scenarios had no doubt taken their toll, but as someone who had been fighting and physically training themselves for several years Komui had no doubt she would quickly recover what she'd lost.

He had to admit he was glad to finally see Tonn an Dochais in person, as well. It was a fascinating weapon. Komui knew of equip-type Innocence bonding to a variety of objects, but he'd never heard of it physically bonding with an element; and even though he'd read about the girl's abilities in her file, it was nothing compared to seeing them in person. Her weapon aside, after the rough time the Noah had given the Order having her at HQ was something of a relief – at the very least, after the loss of so many exorcists of late they needed the numbers.

"Chief Lee."

Komui sighed at the sound of the voice off to his right, "Just taking a break, Miss Fey."

"I'm not here about you neglecting your duties." Komui turned to face the woman and found her holding a piece of paper out to him. "This was just sent from Cairo."

Komui took the paper and read it with a grim expression. Once he'd finished he looked to Brigette again.

She lowered her voice a little, as though just to avoid drawing attention to their conversation. "The situation's getting worse. You need to deploy an exorcist as soon as possible before this gets out and people start panicking."

The chief nodded before glancing back to the sparring match. There were only a handful of exorcists at HQ . . . some of which had only just returned from previous assignments. _Let's hope she's ready._

* * *

Adelphe panted lightly as she sparred with Lenalee, though she was very glad to be doing so once again. She still had a headache that took a toll on her concentration and her skin was irritated after taking blows for the first time in several months, but if she was going to get back to work she had to get fit again — headache or no.

The Scot was distracted from her musing as a heavy blow landed on the solid blades around her arms, sending her backwards. She couldn't find her steps fast enough, so she found herself thrust onto her back with a less-than-dignified yell.

As she sat up with a groan she heard the fast-paced clicking of high heels approach. She looked up to see Lenalee approaching with a concerned expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to knock you over."

Adelphe waved one hand while the other rubbed her sore back. "Think nothing of it. I think I just tripped on—" She looked to where she'd been standing as she spoke, but lost her train of thought as she saw that there was nothing _to_ trip over. She then saw that one of her ankles had gotten caught on the front of the other. _Bloody hell, Adelphe. First you lose to two Level Ones then you trip over your own feet in training?_

Lenalee followed the blonde's gaze before offering a sympathetic smile. "We've all tripped over ourselves from time to time." She bent down and offered a hand to the Scot, "And it probably doesn't help that you're still recovering."

"Probably not," she groaned as she took the Chinese girl's hand. Once she was back on her feet she started brushing herself off. "Pick up where we left off?"

"Actually I think what we've already seen should suffice." Both Adelphe and Lenalee turned to the source of the voice and found Komui wading through the crowd that had collected around the two. He stopped next to them, eyes on the Scot. "Want to finish your tour?"

She glanced back and forth between the siblings. "I think I saw most everything. Besides, don't you have work to do or something?"

Snickers filled the crowd as Komui didn't immediately move to answer. Over his silence his light expression faded, but he resumed a small smile after a moment. "This is involving my work, actually."

Adelphe raised an eyebrow but, rather than push for a clarification, simply shrugged. "Alright then, but I'm not sure there's much I missed."

The man nodded and started steering her towards one of the halls nearby, "Oh believe me, there's something you haven't seen yet." He turned back to Lenalee. "Can you ask Johnny to have that uniform done by tomorrow?"

The girl paused for a moment, nodded, then turned away from her brother and Adelphe.

Once Lenalee had started on her way Komui continued on his, walking a step ahead of the blonde Scot.

Movement caught Adelphe's eye and she shifted her focus to it, finding a sheet of paper in Komui's hand. She couldn't see most of the content, but the longer she let her eyes linger on it the better she could see a few lines: "Fifteen dead as of last week, twenty more missing. Possibly aku—"

"See something interesting, Miss McNeal?"

The Scot directed her attention to the woman with curly hair on Komui's other side, who seemed less than amused with Adelphe's side-tracking.

She was tempted to shake her head and turn her eyes back to her tour, but her seasoned-Exorcist side worked in conjunction with her attitude to get the better of her. "I know a damage report when I see one." She turned her eyes to Komui. "Possible thirty-five dead in just one week? Please tell me you're investigating. Unless . . ."

The chief neither slowed nor turned his focus on the teen. "I know what needs to be done concerning this situation, just as I know that you're eager to get back into the field. But there are still steps to be taken before I can allow you to resume missions."

"Like finishing that uniform by tomorrow?"

"And our next stop."

Adelphe nodded and looked to the hall they were passing through, satisfied with his explanation. Then she remembered one thing, "Um . . . with all due respect, how can you tell that I'm ready for missions again?"

"I had a chat with Chief Epstain while you were otherwise engaged. I believe she told me 'when she's training she's usually ready and waiting for her next assignment.' And while I was warned to not assign missions until my medical staff was certain you were ready, I'm afraid I might not have such a luxury this time."

Adelphe rolled her eyes, "Okay look, she only brought that up because after my eye was injured, I went back into the field while it was still healing. _One_ time."

She paused as her mind betrayed her, reminding her of several other incidents where she'd left against medical advice. And Chief Epstain's. And her mentor's . . . "Okay, maybe it happened more than once but I always made it back in one piece."

"Not according to your medical reports." The woman next to Komui opened a large file in the crook of one arm and started flipping through the pages. As she turned the first one Adelphe caught a glimpse of her own name, place of birth, and a few other items that told her this was "the file" Komui had on her.

Out of curiosity to see exactly was in this file, Adelphe snatched the thing from the woman's arm and started flipping through the pages. It was surprisingly heavy, and as the Scot flipped through she found that most of the pages that made it so were, as the woman had said, medical reports. As she looked at the pages she couldn't even understand what a lot of the words on them meant, but the sheer quantity was enough to rest her case.

"Alright, so maybe sometimes I came back a little worse for wear. Doesn't everybody?"

The woman took the file back with an annoyed expression. "Bruises and cuts are to be expected, yes. But hobbling out to a mission on crutches? Coming back with broken bones and sprains as a common occurance? That's just reckless."

Adelphe glared at her, "Hey look, I don't know how many Exorcists you have at your disposal here, but in America I was one of two—and the other was training me—so when assignments came in I couldn't exactly decide I wanted to take this one easy and hand it off to someone else. Especially after my teacher was reassigned."

The elder Black Order members seemed to get the point, as neither made a move to speak.

The group continued to walk in silence for a while, and after staircases and hallways and more stairs Adelphe got the sense that they were heading down to a deep and potentially very strange area of the Headquarters. Strange and dare she say . . . scary. The further they went the less natural light there was, leaving all illumination to small lights on the walls and something far ahead—something that they were heading towards. She had the urge to activate Tonn an Dochais—the glow of the Innocence within the water was better than no light at all—but if the others could get by without light, she could too. Really she was just worried that she didn't know what she was walking into.

Adelphe fought to keep herself cool and relaxed—if such a thing was possible at the moment. _I'm an "important asset" to the Order. They need Exorcists. They wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that . . . would they? Damn it, I can never figure these people out. Why don't they just say "by the way, Miss McNeal, we're going to sacrifice you to the sun god of Pechuchua" or some crap like that? It's always "you'll find out when you see" or "you'll be doing damage assessment upon arrival."_

Once they finally found the source of the light, Adelphe stopped dead in her tracks.

_T-Tonn an Dochais . . . _"A-activate!"

* * *

**A/N: Okay guys, I'm sooooo so sorry for this uber late update (and I thought last time was bad, yeesh). Work and other commitments meant I had little time to write—but what's more, this is just a really hard part to write for period. But don't worry, TIAFD is very much alive in my mind and I have a looooot of ideas for where I wanna go with it. Just . . . getting the time to write and motivation for certain chapters is what's doing me in**

**Sooo yeah. Kinda boring chap but at least we have some Devan/Kahani and Adelphe being a brat xD by the way I don't think there's such a thing as Pechuchua, and if there is I mean no offense, but this is just Adelphe being . . . well, being her bratty and sarcastic self  
I also don't mind telling you guys this is the first time I've actually thought seriously about Kahani, and I really like 'er. Hope you do too~**

**Also, I has an ask blog for my characters now 8D it's been up for a while, and probably all my readers know about it but what the heck. If you have any questions for our sassy Scot or Indian lovebirds, feel free to hop on over to ask-chikas-charas . tumblr . com. **

**Any feedback you guys have to offer would be greatly appreciated ;w; and as always, if you see any mistakes or have any questions feel free to review this, PM me, contact me on dA, whateeeever your heart desires**

**Catch you lovelies next time~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man, its canon characters, or many of the presented concepts in this chapter. I do, however, own Adelphe McNeal and Tonn an Dochais. Quote is from BrainyQuote dot com**

* * *

Previously on Til It All Falls Down:

The group continued to walk in silence for a while, and after staircases and hallways and more stairs Adelphe got the sense that they were heading down to a deep and potentially very strange area of the Headquarters. Strange and dare she say . . . scary. The further they went the less natural light there was, leaving all illumination to small lights on the walls and something far ahead—something that they were heading towards. She had the urge to activate Tonn an Dochais—the glow of the Innocence within the water was better than no light at all—but if the others could get by without light, she could too. Really she was just worried that she didn't know what she was walking into.

Adelphe fought to keep herself cool and relaxed—if such a thing was possible at the moment. _I'm an "important asset" to the Order. They need Exorcists. They wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that . . . would they? Damn it, I can never figure these people out. Why don't they just say "by the way, Miss McNeal, we're going to sacrifice you to the sun god of Pechuchua" or some crap like that? It's always "you'll find out when you see" or "you'll be doing damage assessment upon arrival."_

Once they finally found the source of the light, Adelphe stopped dead in her tracks.

_T-Tonn an Dochais . . . _"A-activate!"

* * *

"**We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." – Tennessee Williams**

* * *

Adelphe instinctively unscrewed the canteen on her leg as her gloves turned into blades. _W-what is that thing?!_

The Scot found herself in a large, open room with a small path leading to a platform. Said platform seemed to be sitting in the middle of what she could only think to describe as a pool of black water, and in front of the platform was possibly one of the strangest things Adelphe had seen in her time as an Exorcist.

It appeared to be a creature of some sort, but it was radiating light so it couldn't have been natural—well just looking at the _size_ could tell ya that! The body was reminiscent of a snake, and the head seemed to be a woman with . . . was that hair? Adelphe had no idea what this was or what she was doing here, but she knew that this was weirder than any akuma she fought—and yet almost angelic or heavenly in its presence.

Even so, seven years of this Holy War taught Adelphe to activate first, ask questions later.

Upon hearing Adelphe command her Innocence, Chief Komui and the woman by his side turned to face the Scot with surprised, then wildly concerned expressions.

The Chinese man put a hand out towards the blonde. "No, stop! Hevlaska's an Exorcist, just like you."

Adelphe looked to him as though he had three heads. "What? How is tha—"

"_**Adelphe McNeal**__."_

The teen froze at the voice. It was distinctly feminine, yet the way it echoed before even reaching the girl's ears said that it wasn't from a human. The aforementioned Exorist looked up at the huge white figure, and found it looking directly at her—well, if something that didn't have eyes _could_ look.

"_**I've been waiting to meet you for quite some time**__."_

The Scot's eyes shifted between Chief Lee and "Hevlaska," as he called it. "But . . . how do you know about me? I know I've definitely never heard of you."

"Every time you retrieve a piece of Innocence and have it sent to Headquarters," the Chief motioned to Hevlaska, "you were actually sending it here. To Hevlaska herself."

"Eh . . . huh?" Adelphe stopped herself then waved her hands in front of her face. "You know what? No. Never mind, trying to understand these things gives me a headache." She focused on the Chinese man. "So then why did you bring me here? I don't have any Innocence."

He nodded to her Innocence-clad arms. "You might not have any to surrender, but we need to know about the bond between yourself and Tonn an Dochais."

Her blades reverted to their inactive form as she crossed her arms. "It's my weapon; I use it to destroy akuma and that's it. I'm not . . . not 'bonded' with it, it's just a tool."

"Yet without it, you're no longer an Exorcist, correct?" The woman by the chief's side spoke up, earning a glare from the Scot.

"Just a quick examination and you're done." Chief Lee offered Adelphe a smile; a gesture which seemed to work to his advantage.

Adelphe sighed and dropped her arms to her side. "Fine. What do you need me to do?"

"Follow me." The Chinese man turned towards Hevlaska and started walking.

Adelphe followed, not sure what other option she had right now. As she got closer to the "Exorcist" she felt more and more on edge, if not by the unusual nature of Hevlaska, then by her size; the warrior in Adelphe couldn't stop thinking about how easily the giant creature . . . person . . . woman? could inflict damage upon a human.

Komui halted in front of Adelphe, prompting her to do the same. The Scot looked up and saw that not only was she _very_ close to Hevlaska, but also that she was reaching for Adelphe with strange tentacle-like hands. The blonde tensed as they closed in, but wasn't exactly sure what to do.

"_**This will not hurt; do not feel afraid."**_

Adelphe almost asked what "this" was, but found an answer before words for the question. The tentacle-things wrapped around her body and arms and—wait.

The Scot looked down and found her feet were no longer in contact with the floor. In fact, the floor was moving away from her—noooo. She looked to Hevlaska's face wide-eyed, and found that she was being lifted towards it. _Being lifted._ She'd thought Hevlaska herself was unnatural, well _THIS_ was unnatural! Humans didn't belong in the air, dammit!

Despite the being having told her _not_ to be afraid, the girl started struggling—though she couldn't do much more than squirm. She grunted as she felt the grip on her body tighten, as though to further hinder her movements.

"Fighting her won't help!" Adelphe again looked down—to the detriment of what nerves remained—as Chief Komui up yelled to her.

Her hands curled into fists, just about the only movement she could now muster. "Let's see _you_—!"

"_**I remember this Innocence."**_

All present turned their attention to Hevlaska, even the distressed Scot. Said girl shook her head, "How can you 'remember' it? I've never seen you before."

"_**It belonged to an Exorcist many years ago. We assumed it had been destroyed when he fell. It is fortunate we were wrong, for it is a powerful weapon."**_

Before she could respond, an odd sensation distracted Adelphe. Her skin on her arms felt like they were tingling, yet the term didn't seem quite right. She looked to one of said arms and found the tentacle-hand things were glowing where they were contacting the flesh, as well as her canteens.

"_**Two percent . . . fifteen percent."**_

Adelphe looked to Hevlaska, confused—but that wasn't exactly new. This whole damned thing was too weird to think about.

"_**Twenty-three . . . thirty-nine . . . fifty-two . . . seventy . . . seventy-four."**_ The hand things started moving away from the girl's body. _**"Your current synchronization rate is seventy-four percent."**_

Adelphe looked to one of her gloves, "Is that . . . a good thing?" It wasn't until after she spoke that she realized she was being lowered towards the ground—a very welcome realization.

"That's pretty strong for someone first meeting Hev," the Chinese chief again spoke up as Adelphe neared the floor. "But for a veteran Exorcist, I'd say you're right where you should be."

Once the girl's feet touched the ground, she took a moment to make sure her footing was stable before she sighed with relief.

She looked to Komui, "I'm confused though—my Innocence used to be a pair of gloves handed down from my grandfather. Are you telling me he was part of the Order and I never heard about it?"

"It's more likely that when Tonn's former Accomadator died, someone found the gloves before we could collect the Innocence."

"It _is_ possible though, right? He could have been an Exorcist?"

A small smile met the man's lips. "I suppose it is possible, yes. But whether they were found by your grandfather or given to him, or perhaps even were his weapon, the fact still remains that since the Order is familiar with your Innocence, we might be able to help you better utilize it."

"_**Your Innocence has great strength, but it will falter if you do not trust that strength. Do not bear the weight of the Holy War upon yourself alone."**_

Komui looked up at Hevlaska. "A prophecy, Hev?"

"_**A warning. I can see you take the punishment of this life upon yourself, Adelphe McNeal. You must learn to trust your Innocence and those around you . . . or fall."**_

The girl bowed her head and brought a hand up to the scar on her face. _As if my scar—or any of them—were intentional. As if I don't trust my weapon . . ._

After a moment of silence a hand lightly grasped Adelphe's shoulder and started turning her away from the giant Exorcist.

"Thank you, Hevlaska." The chief looked from her to the Scot. "It's about time we get you back to the infirmary. I'd rather not have the Head Nurse hunt you down."

Adelphe neither responded nor protested as she was steered back down the hall they'd come only a short while ago. _Trust those around you . . . trust your Innocence . . . what was she going on about? Just because I don't hold back and prefer the direct approach, that doesn't mean I'm reckless. In fact, if anything . . ._

"There's something I need to know." Adelphe paused as Komui glanced at her curiously. "You had no word from me for three months, and when I do show up it's bloodied and unconscious. Then when I wake up, I get 'welcome to Headquarters,' a grand tour, a bit of combat training, and meet the . . . 'Exorcist' you keep hidden away from everyone. So answer me this, how is it that you trust I am who I claim to be?"

The Chief's expression turned from curious to grim as he sighed. "Miss McNeal—"

"Call me Adelphe."

"_Adelphe_, we're hardly in a position to be picky when it comes to expanding our numbers, especially with recent events. That aside, Exorcists are perhaps the most vital members of the Black Order; treating you as an enemy would greatly disrespect both the value and sacrifices of you and your comrades."

Komui took a few more steps before he seemed to notice Adelphe wasn't next to him. He turned to the girl to find she'd stopped in her tracks and was now glaring at him.

"You mean you can't afford to lose your pawns just yet."

His already-grim expression seemed to further darken. He tilted his head down and a glint crossed his glasses, hiding his eyes from the Scot's, "My superiors may see Exorcists as expendable, but believe me when I say the lives of those under my care and command are my **top** priority." He turned away from the light, allowing shadows to hide his features. "I will not allow life to be lost needlessly."

Adelphe was tempted to ask what her cynical side wanted to—"and what if someone says decides it is 'needed'?"—but she had been an Exorcist long enough to know her answer. Fancy title or no, she was a fighter, a soldier—and soldiers were expected to die for their cause.

She resumed walking, head down as she passed the chief. She'd spent enough time speaking today, she just wanted to rest.

* * *

The Black Order's lively mood dissipated as the halls saw less and less traffic and candles were extinguished throughout the building. Still, even as most seemed to be sleeping, there was one mind that couldn't put the day's events to rest.

_You must learn to trust . . . or fall._

Adelphe stared blankly at her gloves, her Innocence she was told she had to start "trusting," and brooded.

Trusting implied caring enough about someone to put yourself in the position where they could easily hurt you. Humans trusted their loved ones were indeed human, often to learn they were actually monsters that lived to kill others. Soldiers trusted their equipment or weapons, and when those failed the soldiers would fall. Subordinates trusted their superiors, only to be thrown from one dangerous situation to the next. Trust wasn't worth the risk – it was safer, and simpler, to learn to use one's resources but trust only in themselves.

No, she'd been thinking about it ever since her meeting with Hevlaska and she realized that she in fact _didn't_ trust anyone—not her comrades, not her superiors, not her weapon.

And she didn't care to change that anytime soon.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, majorly late with this update, I'm sooo so sorry guys. It's a mix of work, other things I have going on, then the fact that we know so little about Hevlaska's interactions with Equip type Exorcists that I kinda had to wing it. All I had to go on was Lenalee learning her sync rate had dropped below ten percent, in which Hev only needed contact with her legs. Though, in the new Headquarters there isn't a platform like what they had at the old castle, at least not from what I've seen from the manga—so I figured it would be easier for Hev to hold onto the Exorcist she's examining, whether they like it or not, than for her to reach down to them on the ground**

**I would like to thank ChikitaWolf for being a sounding board for me while working on this chapter (well actually this whole fic I think—I've been pestering her about little things at a time) and TotalBlondeChick010 (Chatterbox010 on dA) for not letting me forget about this story ;w; I fully intend on continuing it, it's just nice to be poked every now and then and reminded that people do actually read this**

**I am going to try and make a habit of working on this more often than I have in the past, but I have more stuff coming up that might distract me. But please bear with – this story is very much alive in my heart and mind, even if it's slowcoming getting to the web**

**If you see any mistakes, oopses, or things you may disagree with, please feel free to let me know. Thank you guys so much for reading TIAFD and I hope to see you soon!**


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